261^st Infantry Regiment

The 261st Infantry Regiment was activated with the 65th Infantry Division at Camp Shelby on August 16, 1943, and reached France on January 21, 1945. After training and assembly, the division relieved the 26th Infantry Division in the Saarlautern bridgehead on March 9. The 261st became the division's lead breakout regiment. On March 17 it crossed the Saar near Menningen, cleared the heights south of Merzig, and opened the way toward Dillingen. The next day it took Dillingen, and on March 19 it pushed through Nalbach, Piesbach, Bilsdorf, and Saarwellingen as the bridgehead expanded.

The regiment entered Germany on March 20 and soon operated with armor during the pursuit. It was attached briefly to the 11th Armored Division and then to the 6th Armored Division from March 29 to April 4 as Third Army crossed the Rhine and drove toward the Fulda. After returning to division control, the 261st was hit hard at Struth on April 7, when a German counterattack overran one of its battalions. Air support and divisional action restored the situation, and the division shifted into reserve before resuming the advance through Berka, Waltershausen, Arnstadt, Bamberg, Altdorf, and Neumarkt.

In late April the 261st again took a demanding river role. On April 26, during the Danube crossing southwest of Regensburg, it met strong opposition while the division forced its bridgehead. After Regensburg fell and armor passed through, the regiment followed the drive across the Isar and toward the Inn. On May 2 it reached Passau and Neuhaus; its 2nd Battalion cleared most of Passau while the 1st Battalion began the Inn assault at Neuhaus. The regiment then pushed rapidly toward Linz, reached the Enns River, and overran Enns on May 5 before contact with Soviet forces ended the campaign.